diff --git a/src/test_utils.jl b/src/test_utils.jl
index 83a868bf2d..6c3573b418 100644
--- a/src/test_utils.jl
+++ b/src/test_utils.jl
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ for T in (:(Core.Method), :(Core.CodeInstance), :(Core.MethodInstance))
     @eval function has_equal_data_internal(
         x::$T, y::$T, equal_undefs::Bool, d::Dict{Tuple{UInt,UInt},Bool}
     )
-        x == y
+        return x == y
     end
 end
 
@@ -777,11 +777,19 @@ function test_frule_performance(
 
         # Test allocations in primal.
         f(x...)
-        @test (count_allocs(f, x...)) == 0
+        @static if VERSION >= v"1.12"
+            @test count_allocs(f, x...) == 0
+        else
+            @test (@allocations f(x...)) == 0
+        end
 
         # Test allocations in forwards-mode.
         __forwards(rule, f_ḟ, x_ẋ...)
-        @test (count_allocs(__forwards, rule, f_ḟ, x_ẋ...)) == 0
+        @static if VERSION >= v"1.12"
+            @test count_allocs(__forwards, rule, f_ḟ, x_ẋ...) == 0
+        else
+            @test (@allocations __forwards(rule, f_ḟ, x_ẋ...)) == 0
+        end
     end
 end
 
@@ -820,15 +828,22 @@ function test_rrule_performance(
 
         # Test allocations in primal.
         f(x...)
-
-        @test count_allocs(f, x...) == 0
+        @static if VERSION >= v"1.12"
+            @test count_allocs(f, x...) == 0
+        else
+            @test (@allocations f(x...)) == 0
+        end
 
         # Test allocations in round-trip.
         f_f̄_fwds = to_fwds(f_f̄)
         x_x̄_fwds = map(to_fwds, x_x̄)
         __forwards_and_backwards(rule, f_f̄_fwds, x_x̄_fwds...)
-        count_allocs(__forwards_and_backwards, rule, f_f̄_fwds, x_x̄_fwds...)
-        @test count_allocs(__forwards_and_backwards, rule, f_f̄_fwds, x_x̄_fwds...) == 0
+        @static if VERSION >= v"1.12"
+            @test count_allocs(__forwards_and_backwards, rule, f_f̄_fwds, x_x̄_fwds...) == 0
+        else
+            @test (@allocations __forwards_and_backwards(rule, f_f̄_fwds, x_x̄_fwds...)) ==
+                0
+        end
     end
 end
 
@@ -1381,12 +1396,57 @@ function test_get_tangent_field_performance(t::Union{MutableTangent,Tangent})
     end
 end
 
-# Function barrier to ensure inference in value types.
-function count_allocs(f::F, x::Vararg{Any,N}) where {F,N}
-    test_hook(count_allocs, f, x...) do
-        @static if VERSION >= v"1.12-"
-            Base.allocations(f, x...)
-        else
+# This faff is needed to work around the fact that `Base.allocations(() -> f(x...))` reports
+# spurious allocations when any of `x` is a DataType (which necessitates a manual expansion
+# of the splat), and `Base.allocations(f, x...)` also reports spurious allocations sometimes
+# when the arguments `x` aren't interpolated (which necessitates a closure). The only way to
+# make it work is to generate the code `Base.allocations(() -> f(x1, x2))`, etc., for each
+# arity of `f` (up to a reasonable limit). It would be nicer to use a generated function for
+# this, but generated functions can't contain closures.
+function __allocs end
+function count_allocs end
+const __MAX_ARGS_ALLOCS = 10
+@static if VERSION >= v"1.12-"
+    for nargs in 0:__MAX_ARGS_ALLOCS
+        args = [Symbol("x", i) for i in 1:nargs]
+        types = [Symbol("X", i) for i in 1:nargs]
+        sigs = [:($(args[i])::$(types[i])) for i in 1:nargs]
+        fexpr = quote
+            function count_allocs(f::F, $(sigs...)) where {F,$(types...)}
+                test_hook(count_allocs, f, $(args...)) do
+                    stats = Base.gc_num()
+                    @noinline clos = () -> f($(args...))
+                    clos()
+                    diff = Base.GC_Diff(Base.gc_num(), stats)
+                    return Base.gc_alloc_count(diff)
+                end
+            end
+        end
+        eval(fexpr)
+    end
+    # Catch-all method for when there are more than __MAX_ARGS_ALLOCS arguments. The risk of
+    # using Vararg here on Julia 1.12 is that it leads to incomplete specialisation when any
+    # of the arguments are DataTypes, which can cause spurious allocations. See e.g.
+    # https://discourse.julialang.org/t/specialization-on-vararg-of-types/108251.
+    function count_allocs(f::F, x::Vararg{Any,N}) where {F,N}
+        test_hook(count_allocs, f, x...) do
+            # This method should only be hit if N > __MAX_ARGS_ALLOCS, but we can check
+            # nonetheless
+            N > __MAX_ARGS_ALLOCS &&
+                @warn "using varargs method for `count_allocs` since there were $N arguments; this may lead to spurious allocations being reported if any arguments are `DataType`s"
+            stats = Base.gc_num()
+            @noinline clos = () -> f(x...)
+            clos()
+            diff = Base.GC_Diff(Base.gc_num(), stats)
+            return Base.gc_alloc_count(diff)
+        end
+    end
+else
+    # Fallback for Julia <= 1.11. Note that this will report spurious allocations if any of
+    # `x` are `DataType`s so it is best to just call `@allocations f(x...)` directly instead
+    # of `count_allocs(f, x...)`.
+    function count_allocs(f::F, x::Vararg{Any,N}) where {F,N}
+        test_hook(count_allocs, f, x...) do
             @allocations f(x...)
         end
     end